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Snowfall warning for North Island New Zealand Issued 24 July at 10am local time. A deepening sub-tropical depression will quickly cross North Island on Saturday accompanied by a short period of gales and heavy rain. Expect easterly blizzard conditions to develop on Ruapehu as well as the ranges from the Tararuas to the Kawekas and perhaps even further north. A Cool SE flow with further bands of snow for mountains elsewhere. Many resorts have seen more than 20cm snow over the past 24hrs.

Villars, Switzerland

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Villars offers skiing between 1300m and 3000m, in the Lake Geneva region and is just 110km, by road, from Geneva. The slightly lower village of Gryon is an alternative base and between them they provide 16,000 beds for tourists. In addition to 120km of pistes there are 200km of walking trails to explore and several sledging trails too. Mountain guides and heli-skiing are available for the more adventurous.

Resorts close to Villars include: Les Diablerets (8 km), Leysin (8 km), Les Mosses - La Lécherette (11 km), Ovronnaz (13 km), Château d'Oex (18 km),

Villars Photo Trails (Pistes): - Halfpipes: -
Summit: 2120 m Toplift: m
Beg: 51% Int: 41% Adv: 8% Terrain Parks: 2
Vertical Drop: 913 m X-Country: 44 km
Lifts: 27 (4 chair lifts, 19 surface lifts) Snowmaking: 7%
Gondolas / Cable Cars: 4 Slopeside accom.: Y
Restaurants: 45 Acres of ski: -
Bars: 4 Nearest Airport: Geneva
Nearest Train: Aigle Info phone: +41244953232 | Villars Resort Info Website

Visitor Reviews of Villars


Del Re family from SWITZERLAND writes:

Agree with most of the comments made on Villars (eg. location from Geneva airport, families-friendly, English speaking instructors, etc. etc.)
However, all the above has its negatives.
1) Far too overcrowded on the few piste it offers, mostly inexperienced skiers, many beginners in the ski schools (many over from the UK thanks to EasyJet), travelling too fast, out of control or simply acting silly. Over the half-term week in February I personally witnessed 2 broken arms and at least 14 red helicopter takeoffs from the Villars-Les Chaux area....
2) No snow cannons on the Villars piste. Thanks to our environmental shortsightedness the snow level remains high and the runs to the town become treacherous muddy/slushy (this year from early February). Most smart resorts employ snow cannons to ensure a good surface is restored every night (Italy and France have some excellent examples). Villars has virtually no such installations. Unless they "wake up and smell the roses" they will lose out to higher altitude resorts (eg. Verbier, Ovronnaz, Crans, etc.). Time to invest......
The best advice for skiing in Villars when it is crowded is:
a) get on the piste around 8.30am when the snow is crisp and most of the visitors are still sleeping. Enjoy Villars for about 2 hours with no queues and no crazy Englishmen hurtling down the mountain with the look of sheer panic on their faces.
b) move over to Les Diablerets about 10.30am-11.00am. Ski and eat lunch there (less queues, better service, fewer silly skiers).
c) Return to Villars town (if the runs to resort are passable) around 3pm-3.30pm before the whole mass of skiers begins the descent. Most of the helicopters were seen in this "twilight time" 3.30pm-4.30pm when the legs are tired, the runs are mushy, the room on the piste is limited, etc.
Final comment: why would anyone consider skiing without a helmet. It is beyond logic to understand why we insist it on children (weighing one third our weight and travelling half our speed) but rarely see it on adults. A simple risk analysis would immediately identify that it is the adults that are far greater at risk (higher centre of gravity, less elastic, greater momentum, harder impact, etc.)
So would the 14 incidents I witnessed. All adults getting taken away in helicopter. Food for thought.

Safe skiing.....

2008-03-01

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resort map

Closest
City Forecasts
city forecasts
Aigle, Switzerland 14 km
Sion, Switzerland 21 km
Lausanne, Switzerland 43 km
Payerne, Switzerland 58 km
Genève or Geneva, Switzerland 74 km
Closest
Surf Breaks
surf forecast
Varazze, Italy 248 km
Bogliasco, Italy 264 km
Chiavari Entella, Italy 283 km
Levanto, Italy 289 km
Villefranche Sur Mer, France 291 km

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Villars neighbourhood basemap contours roads